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Coinbase was founded in and is a fully regulated and licensed cryptocurrency exchange supporting all U. Coinbase initially only allowed for Bitcoin trading but quickly began adding cryptocurrencies that fit its decentralized criteria. Its list expanded to include Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and many others with the promise of more as long as its requirements are met. Coinbase has a solid number of options to invest and trade in and has plans to add more to the list. The following currencies are listed right now:. Trading on Coinbase is an extremely easy process and geared toward a beginner.
The platform can also be accessed through your android or iOS devices.
Coinbase does not offer any downloadable trading software and it is all browser-based, including its more advanced trading platform, Coinbase Pro. When you log in you are immediately shown your portfolio balance and its performance in a selection of time frames like one hour, 24 hours, one week, and one year.
A banner above your portfolio balance has a "Buy crypto" button where you can enter a dollar value and place market orders for whichever crypto you choose that Coinbase has available. This button also brings up the options to sell or convert your crypto or even set up recurring orders—daily, weekly, on the 1st and 15th, once a month. On the top right of the page, you will find the options to send and receive. This allows users to send crypto out of their Coinbase wallets or receive crypto from elsewhere into their Coinbase wallets.
While most crypto-first exchanges do offer the ability for users to withdraw to their own private wallets, this is unfortunately not the case for some other brokers and exchanges out there. This ability is hugely important to investors who wish to make sure their holdings are safe and secure in their own offline wallets.
While Coinbase is an incredibly simple on-ramp to crypto investment for those who are just starting out, Coinbase Pro offers a far larger and more robust charting and trade experience. Coinbase users can purchase crypto using market orders that experience high fees compared to other exchange options out there. With that in mind, Coinbase wanted to create a free option for Coinbase users to graduate to when they were a bit more practiced. With Coinbase Pro, users can place market, limit, and stop orders with lower commission fees.
Coinbase Pro also has the option of margin trading and has significantly fancier charting capabilities. Traders using Coinbase Pro can see as short-term as 1-minute candle or line charts and can use overlays like exponential moving averages. Coinbase Pro also has over trading pairs available worldwide nearly 40 trading with USD and more than 40 crypto to crypto trading pairs in 42 regions. Compared to other serious trading tools out there, Coinbase Pro is still bare-bones with regard to indicators.
While the standard Coinbase platform is a great tool to help people understand how easy it is to purchase, store, and move cryptocurrency, Coinbase Pro is, by far, a better platform for those who wish to actively trade or invest with lower fees and more features. Coinbase has an incredibly convoluted fee system that is also quite expensive if you are not using Coinbase Pro. The cost of trading on Coinbase's standard platform is quite high in comparison to its competitors. Those who are new to crypto and are looking for ease of use may overlook this. In addition to these fees, Coinbase also charges variable spreads on purchases and trades.
Coinbase says that they typically charge about 0. Market fluctuations can make this higher or lower. There is also a "Coinbase Fee" in addition to the spread and the cost of depositing money mentioned above in the chart. Coinbase gives the following examples of "Coinbase Fees" one might experience on its platform:. Coinbase Pro fees are significantly less expensive and less complicated.
Coinbase uses a variety of safety measures for account holders. It is important to understand that any crypto on any exchange account is only as secure as the account holder makes them. It is imperative to use strong passwords and to utilize the available security features like 2-step verification.
Coinbase provides a solid amount of security in comparison to a number of other leading exchanges. This is one of the reasons Coinbase is a great offering for those looking to safely get started investing in cryptocurrency.
That said, the premise of cryptocurrency is to remove intermediaries where possible and to be in total control of your own funds. While Coinbase does provide an easy entry to cryptocurrency investing, it is important to learn about proper cryptocurrency security and storage.
Savvy crypto investors may use Coinbase Pro for its reduced fees and then withdraw their holdings to their own secure cold storage.
Signing up for Coinbase is a very straightforward and easy process. First, you enter your name, email, and the password you wish to use. You will then be asked to verify your email address. Next, Coinbase asks you to enter in your phone number to receive a verification code and enter it. Coinbase will later use this phone number to send 2-step verification codes.
After this stage, it will prompt you to enter your identification information.
Just like any bank account or investment account, you must prove your identity via state identification. For users in the United States, this will require a social security number. At this point, your Coinbase account will have been created and you are able to add your bank account, credit card, or debit card information to enable deposits and withdrawals so that you can start trading or investing.
Coinbase is an ideal tool for new crypto investors who may not have any other investment experience. While the standard platform is overpriced, its features, like its learn program and the ability to easily set up recurring purchases, provide the inexperienced with a clear path to becoming invested and actually understanding cryptocurrency. Those with more trading experience will find that Coinbase Pro is a cheaper and more robust option, but it is still lacking in terms of features. If you wish to trade seriously, you may find that Coinbase is not the right fit for you.
Overall, Coinbase is designed with the beginner in mind.
Investopedia is dedicated to helping those interested in cryptocurrency investing make informed and safe decisions. Now you just need to wait for the Bitcoin miners to verify your transaction. What if you want to do the opposite and transfer your funds from Binance back to Coinbase? The reverse process is quite straightforward. The platform will generate a wallet address. Simple as that! Again, consider the wait time the miners need to process your transaction.
At first, trading digital coins might seem complicated and confusing, something that only experts in the field could do. However, if you follow our carefully laid out steps, you should find no problem transferring cryptocurrencies from Coinbase to Binance and vice versa. Whatever you do, our final advice is to be ultra careful about where you store your funds. The crypto exchanges are unfortunately the target of frequent hacking attacks because these people know a lot of users keep their money in online wallets. If you need to store them online, do it temporarily!
James is the main editor.
With a passion for finance and anything blockchain, cryptocurrency is right up his alley. He's responsible for most of the content on the site, trying his best to keep everything up to date and as informative as possible. Disclaimer: Digital currencies and cryptocurrencies are volatile and can involve a lot of risk.
Their prices and performance is very unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consult a financial advisor or obtain your own advice independent of this site before relying and acting on the information provided. Our most recommended Cryptocurrency Exchange.
Author Cryptopedia Staff. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Improve this answer. You can find all of the specifics of each country on Coinbase's country page. Open up Electrum and click on the tab labeled "Receive".
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